One of the glaring notes about this year’s Spring Training attendees is the number of former Miami Hurricanes that are in Big League camp. With the addition of both infielder Yonder Alonso and catcher Yasmani Grandal, the Padres now feature five former members of The U. They combine with outfielder Blake Tekotte and catchers Eddy Rodriguez and Jason Hagerty.

With Grandal joining the Padres catching corps, nearly everyone who caught a game for the Hurricanes from 2004-2010 is now a Friar.

Grandal, Hagerty, Tekotte and Alonso were all members of the 2008 Miami team that went 53-10 and entered the College World Series as the No. 1 seed.

Here is a look at each of the former Hurricanes and where they were drafted:

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Position players reported to Spring Training and went through physicals today. Over the coming weeks, the list of 60 players will be whittled down until 25 men will head west to San Diego for Opening Day.

As an overview, here’s a look at the Padres Spring Training roster (Non-roster invites are in bold):

In workout news, the Padres pitchers and catchers went through the normal routine today while position players took physicals and got situated in camp. This morning’s workout featured a pop-up competition among the seven catchers in camp while pitchers worked on fielding followed by their usual bullpen sessions.

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Most fans don’t get the chance to visit Arizona and get the up close season preview that Spring Training provides. With that in mind, today we’ve decided to give you a brief tour of the Peoria Sports Complex. Hopefully this will give you a glimpse of where the Pads spend their days, preparing for the 2012 campaign. What more could you want? Right? Right!

Welcome to the Peoria Sports Complex. Located in beautiful Peoria, Ariz., down the street from Chick-fil-A, behind the Target and adjacent to the Salty Senorita. Flip through the slideshow below and use the map at the bottom for reference as you make your way from the player parking lot, through the clubhouse, to the weight room, out to the fields and finally back to the cafeteria for lunch. The players typically arrive around 6:30 or 7:00 each morning, squeezing in a morning workout in the weight room before a 9:00 team meeting followed by workouts on the field until noon.

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One of the Padres last Spring Training additions has one of baseball’s most interesting player profiles. Micah Owings, a 6-5 right-hander from Gainesville, Ga., has appeared in 180 Major League games over parts of five seasons, making 68 starts and 64 relief appearances. So what happened in the remaining 48 games?

Owings, a career .286 hitter, has regularly been used as a pinch-hitter…and a powerful one at that, belting nine home runs in his career.

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The Padres come to Spring Training with a new-found depth at catcher, a strength that goes beyond the seven players in Big League camp.

Reporting along with the pitchers on Sunday were Nick Hundley (no introduction needed), John Baker (acquired from MIA in exchange for Wade LeBlanc) and Yasmani Grandal (acquired from CIN in Mat Latos trade), all off the 40-man roster. Also in camp are non-roster invites Brad Davis, Jason Hagerty, Eddy Rodriguez and Ali Solis.

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Not far behind is one of the Padres most exciting prospects. Austin Hedges, a 19-year-old catcher out of San Juan Capistrano, was selected by San Diego in the second round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.

Hundley enters camp expected to be the Padres go-to man behind the dish. He is coming off a year in which he set career highs in nearly every offensive category, including runs, hits, triples, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Hundley also started a career-high-tying 73 games behind the plate, a total he is likely to top in 2012.

The acquisition of Grandal from MIA instantly inserted a top catching prospect into the Padres organization, strengthening the club’s position as having one of the top minor league systems. Ranked by Baseball-America as the Padres’ No. 2 prospect and No. 53 in all of baseball, Grandal flew through the minors last season, playing at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A in the Reds organziation.

Hedges has been named the Padres No. 6 prospect by Baseball-America despite playing just nine games as a professional. He was widely considered the top defensive catching prospect when selected 82nd overall in the 2011 draft.

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With all pitchers and catchers now accounted for, the team hit the field today for the first official workout of the Spring. Manager Bud Black addressed the club’s battery candidates at 9:00 this morning and then it was off to Field 1 for running, stretching, PFP (pitchers fielding practice) and then bullpen sessions.

The Padres have 29 pitchers in camp this year, split into squads A and B. The 14 pitchers in squad B were the first to take the mound this Spring (naturally?) with squad A throwing in the bullpens tomorrow. Today’s hurlers included Gregerson, Frieri, Street, Brach, Hamren, Vincent, Cashner, Mikolas, Thayer, Boxberger, Burns, Thatcher, Spence and Hinshaw.

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While we’re on the subject, let’s glance back at the often overlooked accomplishments of last year’s staff. Led by coaches Darren Balsley and Darrel Akerfelds, the 2011 Padres ranked 3rd in the Majors with a 3.42 ERA. Starters posted a 3.62 mark that ranked 4th among all NL clubs while relievers were 3rd in the league with a 3.03 ERA.

2011 marked the second consecutive year the Padres posted a sub-3.50 team ERA and the fourth time in the last six years that the club has had a sub-4.00 team ERA.

In the eight full seasons that Balsley and Akerfelds have been working together as pitching coach and bullpen coach (dating back to 2004), the club has posted a 3.91 ERA that ranks tops in the Majors over that span. During that stretch, the Padres have finished among the top three NL clubs in team ERA on four occasions (’06, ’07, ’10, ’11), including two first place finishes (’06, ’07).

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Pitchers – and – catchers. Three simple words, yet so much meaning for baseball fans.

Sunday was the day for San Diego Padres pitchers and catchers to report to the organization’s Spring Training complex here in Peoria, Ariz. Although, with several players living in the Phoenix area and a few others having already arrived, today’s reporting date is probably more symbolic than anything else.

The coaching staff and players went through the physicals gauntlet. Here’s Padres third base coach Glenn Hoffman going through his eye exam, have to keep that vision sharp relaying those signs from the dugout!

And a few relievers familiar to Padres fans, including Luke Gregerson, Joe Thatcher and Huston Street, got an early jump on tomorrow’s workout.

Monday morning at 9 a.m. Arizona Time, Padres manager Bud Black and his coaching staff will meet with pitchers and catchers for about 30 minutes before the team hits the practice fields for the first time in 2012.

All three Padres beat writers were in camp Sunday and will be covering San Diego’s beloved baseball team throughout Spring Training. Be sure to follow the Twitter posts from Corey Brock (@FollowthePadres), Bill Center (@SDUTPadres) and Dan Hayes (@NCTPadres). They’ll be writing, blogging, tweeting and eating (it’s what beat writers do). And of course don’t forget to follow the official club twitter account, @Padres.

Best wishes to former Padres outfielder Mike Cameron, who announced his retirement. Cameron played two seasons for San Diego (2006-07), batting .255 with 67 doubles, 15 triples, 43 home runs, 161 RBI and 43 steals in 292 games.

You can see Padres workout highlights and catch inteviews at the Video Corner on Padres.com. The talented team of Erik Meyer, Jennifer Cota and Tom Catlin will be working hard every day throughout camp to bring you inside information from the Padres.

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